Onto the start of November and with a certain vote about to happen over in the States, we start with the news that perhaps trumped all others…

November

So over in the States The‘Donald’ Trump won the US election. If you’ve read / heard / scanned the news over the last couple of months that news will not come as a surprise. Our focus here is on the reverberation that was felt in the startup / tech scene in the US and more notably in the UK (this is is a UK Startup focused review after all) at ‘The Donald’ win.

Startup / Tech industry anger at the Trump win was in some cases demonstrated quite openly, with for example, Dave McClure Founding Partner of 500 Startups venting quite passionately on stage at Web Summit in Lisbon about Trump Winning the Election.

However one piece of editorial via Techcrunch, (suggested by a serial founder) compared Trump to a startup that had disrupted the establishment - a fair analogy to make if you think about it.

Back in the UK, the BREXIT conversation was never far away, with for example, City AM suggesting that Britain must raise its game on innovation to make a success of Brexit. Sadly the conversation at the top of Government often only seemed to rotate around the phrase ‘BREXIT means BREXIT’ and detail on plans and specifics appeared lacking. With government policy on immigration likely to change due to the BREXIT leave vote, the news in the Autumn statement from the Chancellor that there would be a £400 Million investment into the London Tech startup scene, was by some, rounded upon, as whilst capital in startup-world can be key, there is a clear lack of skills and UK talent to fulfill the immediate need for a skilled workforce to grow those Startups - hence why an International workforce in the startup / tech scene remained and remains an immediate concern for many.

The Great British Entrepreneur Awards 2016 took place - winners included, Eco Entrepreneur of the Year – Laurence Kemball Cook of Pavegen, Creative Industries Entrepreneur of the Year – Rosie Davies, from London Fashion Agency, Entrepreneurs’ Champion of the Year – Matt Gubba of Biz Britain, Innovation Entrepreneur of the Year – Jason Trost of Smarkets, Intrapreneur of the Year – Matt Asman from CISCO and overall Great British Entrepreneur of the Year – Shaun Pulfrey of Tangle Teezer.

In December the UK's first university campus VC firm launched with a £2m fund - Campus Capital launched with the aim of building early stage, high growth investment funds in partnership with some of the UK's leading universities. Funds would be based on campus and part-run by active students with the guidance and supervision of the Campus Capital board.